Danielle MacDonald led the Panthers with 21 points. Jenna Jones and Julie Hatcher added 13 and 11 points, respectively, off the bench. Kiera Rigby had eight points and seven rebounds while Amy Gough had seven points, seven boards, three assists and two steals.

After the X-Women jumped out to a 15-point lead midway through the first quarter, the Panthers responded and went to the second quarter down one.

"Everyone goes on runs. We knew we didn’t win it in the first five minutes," Sheehan said.

Panthers coach Greg Gould said he told his players the game was far from over.

“They could have folded their tents right there and walked away from it and to their credit they never, ever, ever, ever stopped playing hard,” he said.

Gould told his players how proud he was of them after the game.

“Get the tears out in the locker room and when you walk out of there, get your heads up high because you battled the whole way,” he said.

“I wouldn’t trade one of them for anybody in the league," he told The Guardian. "They couldn’t pay me $100,000 to go some place else and coach. I love these kids.”

Gould said there were key contributions from many of the players on Saturday. He noted Katie Donahoe was dealing with injuries but hustled all night. Jones, who has fought through her own injuries this season, hit a number of key baskets early to get the Panthers back into the game.

UPEI can return all its players next season.

The final is a rematch of last year's final that Saint Mary's won 90-57.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Sheehan said. “This time last year it was the same thing, so I’m hoping this year it will be a different outcome for us.”